Coaches facing uncertainty

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When Kevin Sumlin stirs up the SEC in his first year at Texas A&M, Urban Meyer goes unbeaten in Year One at Ohio State and Jim Mora face plants USC right off the bat at UCLA, the itch for excellence grows more bothersome for those who’ve been scratching beneath the surface.

Those like Mack Brown, despite full support from athletic director DeLoss Dodds, knows the rash of mediocrity can’t last much longer. Frank Beamer, a perennial winner at Virginia Tech, had the worst season of his Hokies’ tenure in 2012.

They aren’t coaches on the hot seat, as much as they are among a number of men facing uncertain futures with fall camp just a month away.

Transfers, injuries, arrests and other offseason happenings have touched every one of these programs in one way or another. But it’s not time for excuses or sob tales. The objective is this: Turn it around now or spend every day through season’s end looking over your shoulder.

It’s crazy to even think about it, right? Prior to last year’s unthinkable six-loss season, Beamer’s teams had won 84 games over the previous eight seasons.

But look a little closer: In those eight seasons of success, four ended with BCS bowl losses, and the only BCS bowl win was over Cincinnati. At some point, it will become more than just winning what is now the worst of the five major conferences.

There’s little argument that Texas is among the top three programs and coaching jobs in college football. If we agree on that (and how could you not—hello, Longhorn Network), then we must also agree that two Big 12 conference championships (and one national title) in 15 seasons isn’t enough.

In September 2010, Iowa extended Ferentz’s contract to 2020, investing nearly $37 million (not including longevity bonuses) in a coach who has never won an outright Big Ten championship. Since that investment, Ferentz’s teams are 19-19 overall, 10-14 in Big Ten games.

No matter how well-liked Ferentz is in the state, fans won’t continue to show up for bad football.

One catch: Ferentz’s deal states that the school owes him 75 percent of his remaining salary if fired without cause.

When USC athletic director Pat Haden said he was 150 percent behind Kiffin, one of the first things he mentioned was Kiffin’s ability to recruit at an elite level. Then USC lost multiple big recruits in the 2013 class in the week leading up to signing day.

The reality: Any coach would find it difficult to deal with 30 scholarship losses over three seasons. The problem: Kiffin has made it worse with some bizarre behavior on and off the field, and some curious coaching moves.

It has been only one year in the Palouse, but that one year was demoralizing. Leach, a passing game guru, had an experienced quarterback (Jeff Tuel), an All-American wideout (Marquess Wilson) and a decent offensive line—and couldn’t win or even score points. He’s not going anywhere, but the rope will get much shorter if the Cougars struggle again in 2013.

Pinkel is 12 wins from becoming the all-time leader in coaching victories at Missouri—and may not be around long enough to get there. Missouri isn’t nearly ready on the lines of scrimmage to compete in the SEC, and Pinkel last season bungled the one thing (managing star QB James Franklin) he had going for him.